The Beach
by Athena's Marauder
Summary: A small story about how Sally met Percy's father.


The music in the bar was so loud Sally could barely hear herself make sarcastic comments about the gross guys trying to hit on her and her very intoxicated best friend. All she wanted to do was get out of there and get back to their tiny cabin. Sally had taken the weekend off for her birthday, but she was regretting it more and more by the minute.

"Sal, come on," Her wild friend, Maggie, slurred. Her mane of fire red hair seemed to match her scattered brain at the moment. "It's your-," _hiccup _"birthday. Have some fun."

"Jesus, how much have you had to drink?" Sally asked, holding the other girl up.

"Only like two or seven," Maggie belched.

"How about we get some air?" Sally said, more commanding than telling.

She led Maggie outside and onto the sand, despite her protests.

"I'm just gonna sit down for a minute," Maggie mumbled, practically throwing herself onto the ground, getting sand all in her hair and probably many other uncomfortable places under her very short dress. Sally was going to protest, but it wasn't likely that Maggie would get up on her own and Sally was much too small to carry her.

She sighed, sitting down next to Maggie. Sally ran her fingers through her thick brown hair, taking in the salty ocean air. It was part of the reason she agreed to come out of the city for the summer. The beach on Montauk was probably her favourite place in the whole world. Well, at least the small part of the world that she'd seen.

Sally watched the waves crash loudly against the rocks, the light of the full moon illuminating everything on the beach. Just as she was starting to enjoy herself a little, she heard Maggie retching into the sand.

"Oh, shit," Sally said, getting up and pulling Maggie to her knees. "Come on, Mags, we gotta get you back to the house."

"Perhaps you need a hand?" Sally looked up at the deep voice that offered help, finding a large man looking down at her. He looked to be about twenty five, with jet black hair and a thick beard, wearing swim trunks and a t-shirt. What struck her most were his bright green eyes.

At least until she noticed the very sharp trident in his hand.

Sally pulled Maggie behind her quickly. "Holy shit, what the Hell, man?" She asked, pointing to the weapon. The man looked confused.

"You can see my trident?" He asked.

"What? Yeah, of course, I can," Sally said, almost more annoyed now than afraid. "You're like two feet away from me. Why do you have that?"

"My apologies, miss," the man said, sticking the trident in the sand. "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"Then you shouldn't carry around ridiculously out dated weapons," Sally said, pulling Maggie to her feet, nearly dropping her, but the man picked her up easily.

"I will carry her," The man offered.

"Thanks," Sally said, eyeing him as she led him down the beach towards the cabin her and her friends were renting for the summer. She was a little bit afraid of him, but something in his eyes made her trust this kind stranger. "I'm Sally."

"Poseidon," The man introduced. Sally laughed, waiting for him to say he was kidding, but he kept a straight face.

"Your parents must have been really into ancient history," Sally joked.

"You could say that, yes," Poseidon smirked.

"I always liked Poseidon," Sally mused. "And Hades always gets a bad rap. I mean, all he does is chill in the underworld and not cheat on his wife. I wasn't really a big fan of Zeus, though."

Poseidon laughed. "Neither am I." Despite it being a clear night, a roll of thunder let rip in the distance. Poseidon mumbled something about "being touchy."

"If we're going with Greek baby names," Sally said. "I'd go with Perseus."

"And why is that?" Poseidon asked.

"I always liked it," Sally shrugged. "He's the only one that got a happy ending. Everyone else in mythology kind of got fucked over."

"We are a very unfortunate group," Poseidon said.

"We?" Sally asked.

"Did I say we?" Poseidon said. "Oh," He shrugged.

Sally looked behind her, expecting to see the trident Poseidon had left in the sand, but found it'd disappeared. She tried to not let that bother her. It probably fell over. It's not like he'd snuck it into his pocket somehow.

"This is me," Sally said, pointing to the cabin door. Poseidon followed her in, putting Maggie onto the couch in the small living room as Sally directed. "Thanks for the help."

"Anytime, Miss Jackson."

Sally raised an eyebrow at him. "I never told you my last name."

"Oh?" He said with a grin. "My mistake."

With a shrug of his shoulders, the man before her melted into a puddle of water, leaking out the door and running back to the ocean. Sally was too shocked to even scream, instead just staring blankly at where Poseidon had been.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Sally said, her hand over her heart. She noticed a note on the counter that most certainly had not been there a few minutes before. She picked it up, her hand still shaking, reading the few words on it.

_See you soon, Miss Sally Jackson_

_ -The God of the Sea_


End file.
